Washington, D.C. – On July 19, Larry Meserve was sworn in as Mission Director to Sudan. As Mission Director, Meserve will oversee USAID’s humanitarian and development programs in Sudan, which include lifesaving food and other emergency assistance such as health care and water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as programs to mitigate conflict and promote reconciliation among communities. He will also focus on building the leadership skills and effectiveness of civil society organizations focused on good governance and democratic participation. USAID has been the largest provider of assistance to Sudan for many years.

Meserve has worked for USAID since 1983, when he started as a Project Development Officer in the Sahel West Africa Projects office. He served as a Food for Peace Officer in Washington, Ghana, the West Africa Regional Office (when it was located in Abidjan), and the East Africa Regional Office, where he led an informal Sudan Field Office as well as the Regional Food for Peace Office from 1995 to 2000.

From 2000 to 2004, Meserve worked in USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives, responsible for programs in Asia, where he helped launch programs in Afghanistan, Angola, Liberia and South Sudan.

From 2004 to 2006, he served as the Director of Democracy and Governance/Conflict Office in Indonesia. He returned to the East Africa Regional Office in late 2006 to serve as Deputy Regional Director, and then he went on to serve as Regional Director from 2009 through July 2012, which included overseeing USAID's programs in Somalia.

Meserve served on a temporary detail at the State Department as part of the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) office, where he worked with a team that drafted an assessment of QDDR implementation for the Secretary of State.

Most recently Meserve served as Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator in USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, where his portfolio included the Office of Food for Peace, the Office of Civilian-Military Cooperation, the Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad, and USAID’s resilience initiative and management issues.

Prior to joining USAID, Meserve served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kenya and worked for CARE in Somalia.